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People hang out on the square on Friday, September 28, 2012.

People hang out on the square on Friday, September 28, 2012.

A task force hoping to improve Park Central Square is a month away from presenting its final recommendations, which will likely focus on dealing with panhandlers and chronic lawbreakers in downtown.

How to best control the area — without police cars so prominently parked on the Square — is also likely to be highlighted in the recommendations.

On Tuesday afternoon, the task force met to discuss a draft of the recommendations, which were originally slated to be delivered to Springfield City Manager Greg Burris by the end of the year. Now, they will be delivered by mid-January at the earliest.

Panhandling was the focus for a majority of the nearly two-hour meeting.

“This is the number one feedback I’ve heard for the past six months,” said committee co-chair Rusty Worley. “What we’re doing now is not working.”

Assistant City Attorney Amanda Callaway said that she could not recommend a suggestion that the city follow a Kansas City ordinance prohibiting all types of panhandling in the downtown area. She cited free speech concerns, noting that the proposed prohibition would apply to street musicians and others who passively seek donations.

“If it comes down to the line of free speech versus panhandling, free speech is going to win,” Callaway said.

Springfield city code currently prohibits soliciting “in an aggressive manner in a public area,” as well as on public transportation or private property if the owner or occupant has asked the person not to do so. It also specifies that soliciting, both aggressive and passive, is not allowed within 15 feet of the entrance or exit to a bank or check-cashing business or within 15 feet of an automated teller machine, Callaway said.

Developer Craig Wagoner said enforcement of the city’s panhandling ordinance is currently lacking, and that it is too confusing.

Callway and Lt. Greg Higdon, of the Springfield Police Department, also noted the difficulties in enforcing aggressive panhandling. In addition to contacting police, those who find themselves on the receiving end of the soliciting also have to be willing to sign a summons and testify in court.

At the end of the meeting, Worley asked Callaway to draft an update to the recommendations that would suggest expanding the soliciting ordinance to 20 feet, and extend it to also include the entrances to offices, commercial establishments, single or multi-family residential complexes and outdoor dining areas connected to restaurants or cafes. It was not immediately clear how such a recommendation, if implemented, would impact street musicians or similar performers, or how it would be enforced.

Hidgon advised the task force not to be fooled into envisioning a simple solution. He said there will always likely be panhandlers near the square, because people give them money.

“We change one word and we think this is going away … We need to look at other avenues,” he said.

One such suggested avenue is the placing of “giving meters,” rebuilt parking meters that collect donations for organizations that benefit the homeless. The meters allow those interested in supporting the homeless to do so without giving to panhandlers, developer Allen Casey said.

“This might discourage the one and encourage the other,” he said.

With widespread support at Tuesday’s meeting, it appears the “giving meters” suggestion will be included in the final report.

The task force also hopes to discourage aggressive panhandlers and other activities with changes in enforcement. Current versions of the draft call for a modification of police scheduling to cover hours more effectively, a focus on foot patrols and a plan to designate parking for police cars on Park Central West, instead of their current spot in the fire lane in front of the library.

“A police cruiser in a highly visible area communicates there is a problem, while officers patrolling on foot says the district is being observed and they are ready to respond when needed,” the current draft of the report reads.

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The Downtown Community Improvement District is also interested, Worley said, in the possibility of hiring new full-time officers for daytime coverage, similar to contracts for services with Missouri State University and Drury University.

The draft also suggests that the city model its Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, which provides additional services to chronic offenders in the City Center area, after Minneapolis’ “Downtown 100” program. That program, the draft reads, assigns specific probation officers for the offenders in the program. The program also allows for the establishment of geographic restrictions, barring the offender from an area — such as Park Central Square — entirely.

Callaway, who said she has prosecuted many chronic offenders, questioned whether aspects of the Minneapolis program would really have an effect. Worley and others acknowledged it would require widespread support, from police officers to judges, to be fully beneficial. By the end of the meeting, task force members suggested leaving the Minneapolis program in their final report as a recommendation, allowing Burris and City Council to determine its feasibility.

The draft also suggested:

• Prohibiting all skateboarding from the Park Central Mall area, including sidewalks — the only place skateboarders are currently allowed — because of concern for pedestrian safety.

• Working to more fully take advantage of the over 80 security cameras that have been placed around Park Central Square and nearby parking garages.

• Creating a new permit process for individuals or groups looking to distribute food to the homeless and those in the need in the Park Central Square area, citing food safety and trash issues, as well as conflicts with other activities on the square.

• Creating a “business watch” program that would train business owners in a neighborhood-watch style program.

Given the abbreviated discussion of the above suggestions, it is not immediately clear whether they will all be included in the final draft. Worley said the task force will meet again next month to make further revisions.